Jewish Studies

College of Humanities
Dean: Nancy McDermid

Jewish Studies Program
HUM 416
415-338-6075
Director: Laurie Zoloth-Dorfman

Undergraduate Advisers: Astren, Zoloth-Dorfman

Faculty

Associate Professors--Astren, Zoloth-Dorfman

Program

Minor in Jewish Studies

Certificate in Jewish Community Studies

Program Scope

The interdisciplinary Minor in Jewish Studies consists of four three-unit core courses and two three-unit elective courses selected on advisement from offerings by a variety of colleges of the university. The purpose of the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Minor is to acquaint the student with the history, culture, contributions, and religion of the Jewish people as seen through the eyes of modern academic disciplines and with particular reference to contemporary issues and patterns. Students can use the Minor in Jewish Studies to complement their majors and, with advising, to fulfill General Education requirements.

Students interested in pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree with a focus on Jewish Studies may be able to do so by developing a Special Major through either the Office of Undergraduate Studies or the Graduate Division.

The Certificate in Jewish Community Studies offers an in-depth understanding of the history, orgnization, and values of the American Jewish community and its community organizations. The certificate is designed for graduate students currently enrolled in the College of Health and Human Services; or professionals with a B.A. degree who are already working in community organizations, educational institutions, or health care organizations serving Jewish clientele; or those interested in pursuing such a career goal. The certificate will be valuable to students pursuing other degrees as well. Professionals such as nurses, physical therapists, health educators, teachers, occupational therapists, nutritionists, counselors, psychologists, and social workers who may work in agencies that serve Jewish clientele can benefit by deepening their understanding of the tradition, texts, history, social organization, family experience, literature, religious practice, and nature of the Jewish experience in America. The certificate will also be critical to students who want to pursue careers in Jewish community agencies and will improve a student's employment potential in a variety of community agencies.

Career Outlook

The Jewish Studies Minor will offer an excellent background for students interested in Judaism as the basis for scholarly or professional pursuits and for students interested in increasing the depth of their understanding of the history, culture, contributions, and religion of the Jewish people within the context of a major discipline.

MINOR IN JEWISH STUDIES

Courses for this program are listed in alphabetical sequence (consult Index for page reference).

Core Courses

JS 300	Introduction to Jewish Studies		3

JS 310	Jewish Thought and Culture		3

JS 320/HIST 635 The Jewish Historical 

Experience			3

JS 330	Jews and Judaism in the Modern 

World			3

Elective Courses(choose two)		6

JS 101	First Semester Modern Hebrew

JS 102	Second Semester Modern Hebrew

JS 311	Facing Each Other: Blacks and 

Jews in the Popular Media

JS/HIST 317	Holocaust and Genocide

JS 340	American Jewish Identity and 

Family

JS 410/PHIL 514	Spirituality and Jewish 

Tradition

JS 412	Postmodernity and Jewish 

Tradition

JS/PHIL 415	The Hebrew Bible

JS 416	Special Topics in Jewish Studies

JS 430	Israeli Democracy: Politics, 

Institutions, and Society

JS 436	Introduction to Israeli Literature

JS 445	Jews, Diaspora, and Identity

JS/HUM/PHIL 501 Judaism, Christianity, and 

Islam

JS 546	Twentieth Century American 

Jewish Women Writers

JS 550	Good and Evil: Jewish Ethics and 

Contemporary Social Problems

JS 667	Jewish Women and Social Change

CINE 406	Jewish Identity in Film

PHIL 515	Semitic Religious Thought

WCL 420	Literature and the Holocaust 

[topic course]

WCL 445	Jewish Authors in Translation 

[topic course]

WCL 445	Modern Jewish Literature

[topic course]

WOMS560	Jewish Women

Total		18

CERTIFICATE IN JEWISH COMMUNITY STUDIES

Admission to Program

Students are required to have a baccalaureate degree. Both classified and unclassified students are eligible. Unclassified students may register through the College of Extended Learning.

Application can be made through the Jewish Studies Program. Applications which include a statement of intent, description of previous work experience, and career goal, are reviewed by a faculty advisory group.

Award of Certificate

The course work used to satisfy the requirements for a graduate certificate must be completed with a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B), and only courses completed with a grade of C or better may be used to meet program requirements; i.e., C- grades and below are unacceptable. The certificate requires a

total of eighteen (18) units successfully completed, which includes the completion of a supervised internship/service learning course.

Program

Students who have not completed JS 300 or comparable course work must take JS 700 or JS 710 as one of their electives.

With permission of their adviser, students may elect to take a graduate course of three to six units from another discipline that is related to their future career objective in community service; i.e., courses in gerontology, child development, economics, education, ethnic studies, public administration, or urban studies.

Core Courses

JS 730	Jews and Judaism in the Modern 

World			3

JS 740	American Jewish Identity and 

Family			3

JS 780	The Professional in Jewish 

Communal Services			3

Internship

JS 800	Internship/Service Learning		3

Elective Courses

Units selected on advisement		6

JS 700	Jewish Studies: An Introduction

JS 710	Basic Texts of Jewish Thought and 

Culture

JS 750	Social Ethics and Contemporary 

Problems

JS 770	Teaching and the Jewish 

Experience

JS 790	Jews and Judaism: Coming to

	America

Total for certificate		18